Re: heat tape

["Lee E. Krieger" <krieger at ans_net>]

Hi Roxanne,

How do you attach it to the aquarium?  to the back?  sides? underneath?

I am very interested in using this and removing the interior heaters in the
tank.

The website warns to make sure the heat tape has adequate ventallation.  I am
unsure how exactly the heat tape is used on the tank in a safe manner.

Thanx,
-Lee

|----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 14:05:41 -0700
|From: "Roxanne Bittman" <rbittman at dfg_ca.gov>
|Subject: heat tape
|
|I have always used heat tape instead of normal aquarium heaters.  I
|think the plants appreciate the warm feet and it's a very reliable way
|to heat the tank.
|
|I use the 11 or 12" wide tape, cut to fit the length of the aquarium.
|This may not cover the entire front to back depth of every tank, but
|it's not too far off and anyway, it doesn't come any wider.
|
|I use a rheostat with it; you just attach the connectors to the metal
|strips on the heat tape  and then plug in to the rheostat.  You cannot
|see a temperature on the rheostat; you just turn the dial until the tank
|reads the correct temp, so it takes a few days of tweaking.  The
|rheostat isn't terribly sensitive, so you need to turn the dial quite a
|bit to see any change.
|I never thought this was too hard and I like the results:  a warm tank
|with no additional "stuff" on the tank wall to clutter things up.
|
|I get my heat tape from Bush Herpetological Supply along with the
|rheostats, but the site Scott H. provided is just as good.  Site for
|Bush is: http://www.bushherp.com/heating.html
|
|Roxanne Bittman
|